the troubadour

Some truth there. Perhaps more relevant with dealings with the Chinese though.
Found Malays rather more relaxed in saying they don't know or haven't got and the like.

jonboy

Another experience was buying a suitcase in a shopping mall. I had decided on the one I wanted and the price was attractive, so I asked the sales lady if she thought it was robust? Her reply "depends on your luck lah!".
I felt this said a lot, with out commitment on the part of the vendor. I guess just a local version of buyer beware. I still have the case 10 years on and have been lucky so far.

nonthaburi

Took me four years to gain what I would call a good degree of fluency in speaking Thai. I'm now in the position where I can do anthing I want to in Thai which is great. No relying on other people for help and it's always good to know what is going on around you. I sort of think that not knowing the language of the country you are in means that you are " watching a DVD with the sound down " if you catch my drift.
Biggest downside to all this has to be when you realise that the girl you though was so sweet has a mouth like a sewer and the guy you thought was a good mate has been calling you a c@#$ for years etc etc. Love the eavesdropping on Thais when they think you don't know what they are saying. It's amazing how much Thais think it's impossible for a foreigner to learn Thai.
Also wish my children sopke more English with me ( working on that ) but because they know I understand they get lazy.
Have very strange ( to an observer) conversations with my wife where we both speak our respective languages. So anyone listening only gets one half of it.

nonthaburi

But it does happen sometimes that a woman might say kap if she was speaking to a man and a lot of gay men say ka too.

As I'm sure you know there are a lot of gender confused people in Thailand.

nonthaburi

exactly the sort of time when it's great to know the lingo. Queue jumpers. I'm sure a lot of the time they do it because they think they can get away with it as you can't say anything back. I normally say something like " didn't you see me waiting here ? " or the classic " there is a queue you know ! "

bakedbean

Yup, for sure, but isn't that one of the best things about Thailand that all these diverse mixed-gender folks can just be what they are, and no-one bats an eyelid. It's just accepted. Last week, we went into a Phuket bank to check some exchange rates and the lady at the counter looked up and she had a full moustache Just love it.

the troubadour

Always good to be in an accepting society. Penang used to have a lot of mixed/trans gender folk around the centre.
Chulia Street and there abouts was a bit of a hangout for them.

Back on subject have searched and found and dusted down my Malay language books.
Haven't really looked them for many years but my interest has been aroused again thanks to these threads.
Next step will be top open and revise.

optimistic_jim

Just had it confirmed, I start my Malay language lessons on Wednesday, 1.5hrs everyday for most days before I fly out in mid July, so I'll be fluent by then! Well, I at least want to get a few useful phrases and basic understanding of everyday stuff to get me by whilst I get the best lessons free, actually mingling with the locals!

Do you think I'll get the chance to speak and learn my Malay or will they generally speak English to me, even though it'll be obviously I'm trying to speak their language?

the troubadour

I wanted to learn Malay in London in 1980,already had the basics, but the only place where Malay was taught cancelled due to low enrollments and was placed into an Indonesian class instead.
Never the less rather similar and a good preperation for when living in Malaysia.

As for using Malay,I used to find that the Chinese would only speak Malay if had no English and especially amoung the older folk a rather broken Malay at that.

Imagine these days almost all would speak it well but still suspect you would find it easier in more Malay areas to find folk to speak with than for example Penang Island.

Always found Malay folk very helpful when attempting to learn the language,which makes for a lot of fun and little stress.

bakedbean

You're probably right, Troubadour.

Hey Nonthaburi, shall we split off our "off topic" posts about Thai to a new Have you learnt Thai thread in Thailand sub-forum? What d'ya think? I might have to dust off the Concierge manual

nonthaburi

Dunno really, it's pretty quiet in there. Not many takers.

Learning a language in another country , it's all the same sort of stuff you deal with wherever you are really I think.

optimistic_jim

Daily Malay lessons, good fun but pretty intense and oh my god my brain aches! It's starting to get a little better, now I know why they sometimes repeat words like jalan-jalan and things like the order of words in sentences, but I still can't figure out why they have multiple ways of saying the exact same thing!

Still, I think it'll be worth it, however does anyone have any tips on where to go to really get the practise in when I'm in and around Kuala Lumpur as I'm concerned that most citizens there will speak English. Should I spend time talking to stallholders in the markets for instance, or strike up conversation at hawker stands?

I'm OK with just going and finding my own way but if anyone has any tips as to the best way to immerse myself in the language and culture without going off the beaten track too much then please pray tell

Terima kesih

nonthaburi

get a sleeping dictionary ! that method of imersion learning has probably stood the test of time .

Seriously though, just try to refuse to speak English when dealing with people. It will seem a bit strange because the other person will want to speak English with you but they will probably help you out with pronunciation and stuff when they see you're making the effort. Either that or they then speak really fast a load of stuff you don't understand. All good fun though. Have fun !

Strider24

Jim only a few older ones speak malinglish in KL. If you want English, go to older towns like Ipoh or Penang. In KL you can practice your Malay ( and Indonesian) just about everywhere.

bakedbean

I muttered a few words in Malay at some Malay workers in the lift of the condo that we are buying at yesterday, which resulted in a shocked look followed by a fit of giggles. I'm hoping it was the shock of white woman speaking Malay, rather than pronunciation, but it was good fun. Practice, practice